LHL & the meaning of life (in Sg...)

miosux · Aug 19, 2008

PM Lee summed up the "singapore dream" (as they want us to believe it):

"...or when you retire you say I'm satisfied, I had a good career, I've taken care of my family, I've brought up children, this is what life is about (emphasis added)."

In Singapore, there is only one path that will lead to happiness.
- work hard in a coprorate job, but now with work life balance
- get your 5Cs (still hasn't changed)
- make 2.1 children

All other minority groups will not find happiness here (under the PAP's vision)
- gays and lesbians
- artistes and artists
- politcal dissenters
- singles
- hippies
- childless couples

the rest of the quote: (basically you work, you fuck then you die)

"Today it's harder to do this. The office hours are longer, the pace is more intense. People call them "office hours". You must put quotes there because it starts in the morning but it doesn't finish after dinner. And at home you are working, on holidays you're working too on e-mail or Blackberry or whatever. But despite this, I think you hv to maintain a balanced, fulfilling life & you have to keep a pace which is sustainable not just for 1, 2 years & you burn out, but for a lifetime & you are in balanced equilibrium, and at the end of your life or when you retire you say I'm satisfied, I had a good career, I've taken care of my family, I've brought up children, this is what life is about."

http://www.asiaone.com/Business/News/SME+Central/Story/A1Story20080818-82942.html

pweesng · Aug 19, 2008

i am not inclined towards any political party. What i want is to see Singapore mature and become a better place for my family and myself in time to come.

I don't think your statement is a fair one. As a leader, you will know that it would be impossible to please everyone in the system. What the govt with the NDP Rally statement is to please and deliver good news to hopefully majority of the population.

I am not saying that as a minority, your needs are not of concern to the govt, but you cannot deny that as a leader if you have to choose, you have to choose the majority.

I am actually rather encourage by PM Lee's speech yesterday. At least it shows that the govt is listening to the people to some extend. Now the crux of the matter is the implementation. I do hope that the changes or steps he has mentioned will be implemented to an extend that it is actually viable for the person involved.

For instance, given a 4 months leave to staff after giving birth. As a mother i would love that. As an employer i will hate that. The govt took one step, by absorbing the extra 2 months of maternity leave salary... which is good. But what the govt should do also, is to protect the job of a mother from being taken away from her after her maternity leave period. ie to enforce the employer to have to take the mother back after the leave period, or to enforce the employer to have to allow such leaves to be taken in the first place.

My first reaction when i heard the news is, i better stay clear from hiring mothers. i know that is wrong, but i have my job to take care off. The govt needs to implement steps to ensure that i cannot take such bias views when i am considering hiring people.

miosux · Aug 19, 2008

how do you define "better?" - more cars? more restaurants? more material possessions? more charity scandals reflecting the moral decay of our society? more medals won by buying a foreign legion of atheltes with money better spent on social/environmental causes?

i'm sorry but the PAP is building a better Singapore, but ONLY for those who walk the path they have decreed for us. because that is the only choice for Singapore - we cannot afford to have extensive social saftey nets because we rather spend it on owning foreign banks.

singapore denies us Real choice - there is only the illusion of choice within their master framework. you can only choose to be happy within their definition of the 5Cs. pariahs have no place here. CNG as an green alternative? see how quickly the "suppliers" raised the prices the minute they realized they would lose tax revenue on falling petrol demand? who do you think the CNG suppliers are?? i'm sure its not the ah seng ah kow pte ltd.

and what makes you think i'm a minority?

Frankiestine · Aug 19, 2008

pweesng said:
For instance, given a 4 months leave to staff after giving birth. As a mother i would love that. As an employer i will hate that. The govt took one step, by absorbing the extra 2 months of maternity leave salary... which is good. But what the govt should do also, is to protect the job of a mother from being taken away from her after her maternity leave period. ie to enforce the employer to have to take the mother back after the leave period, or to enforce the employer to have to allow such leaves to be taken in the first place.

My first reaction when i heard the news is, i better stay clear from hiring mothers. i know that is wrong, but i have my job to take care off. The govt needs to implement steps to ensure that i cannot take such bias views when i am considering hiring people.

honestly, i see working mothers especially those that are planning to be mothers ending up as the biggest loser...i think to be pro-family it goes beyond just the maternity leave stuff...sure the gov will play its part by absorbing in the additional two months of paid maternity but being an employer, any expenses incurred for a MIA staff is more then a burden and not forgetting having to get someone to replace the staff for the period she is MIA..and that is the matter of continuity in the job...

To really encourage people to marry and have families, the only way is to give financial incentives...give grant for couples to marry, give grants when they have the first child within a certain time after marriage, pay for IVF if couples have difficulties conceiving (which i note that it was brought up)..pay for the child medical and educational care...in particular infant care..many couples faced this as there are really not many centers that specialized in infant care...

myfoot123 · Aug 19, 2008

pweesng said:
I am actually rather encourage by PM Lee's speech yesterday. At least it shows that the govt is listening to the people to some extend. .

This statement of yours shows how easily you can be coned into electing the pap during the last election. Every years we listened to rhetoric from them and every years we see people sufferings without marks and measures only to be told our suffering is inevitable, is good, is sensible. Oh...may be those rhetorics helped Ven Ming Yi and T T Durai before and it worked. Afterall, talk is cheap, convincing talk is poisonous. Have a mind of your own, are you happy all these years with all the promises laid by pap during the last election?

fanta · Aug 19, 2008

PM Lee says, "We extended it by four weeks. Now it's 12. And the extra four weeks the government was paying."

Sounds good. But what's the catch :p

http://www.asiaone.com/Business/News/SME+Central/Story/A1Story20080818-82942.html

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AsiaOne</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Govt to share burden with family friendly employers

"We must have a good work-life balance," said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech.

He adds, "The government will help to share some of this burden of the employers."

As an example, he cites the maternity leave, which used to be eight weeks.

PM Lee says, "We extended it by four weeks. Now it's 12. And the extra four weeks the government was paying."

Aside from this though, he feels that 12 weeks is not enough.

"I think what we should do is to increase it to 16 weeks. And these last four weeks I think we give some flexibility. Don't make it necessarily all at the beginning. It can be any time in the first year and the government pays for these 4 weeks also."

Employers must also do their part with an attitude that does not make the employer feel that there will be a little black mark recorded in their annual confidential report.

"It makes a big difference. And with a bit of effort & imagination, you can do a lot. You can provide nursing rooms so that mothers who are lactating can express the milk & store the bottles. You can allow telecommuting & be flexible about it, so long as the work is done. In fact, one company I know of actually allowed one employee to go all the way to Australia with her husband & telecommute from Australia & continued to be paid & do the work. And then she came back and she resumed her job."

"You can find ways around having them physically present. So one catering company which has a lot of outdoor catering over weekends, outside catering, supplied their staff with walkie-talkies and with Blackberries so that they don't hv to be physically there. They can be with their family, they can go out, but they can keep an eye on the catering arrangements, make sure things don't go wrong. I think such employers we shud recognise & thank publicly. And MOM and MCYS will make a special effort to do that."

Ultimately however, he says that the individual must make a personal choice and decide on his or her own point of balance.

"Today it's harder to do this. The office hours are longer, the pace is more intense. People call them "office hours". You must put quotes there because it starts in the morning but it doesn't finish after dinner. And at home you are working, on holidays you're working too on e-mail or Blackberry or whatever. But despite this, I think you hv to maintain a balanced, fulfilling life & you have to keep a pace which is sustainable not just for 1, 2 years & you burn out, but for a lifetime & you are in balanced equilibrium, and at the end of your life or when you retire you say I'm satisfied, I had a good career, I've taken care of my family, I've brought up children, this is what life is about."

wizard · Aug 19, 2008

<<I am actually rather encourage by PM Lee's speech yesterday. >>

Good for you. I chose to measure it with the real follow up action.

See for yourself..

International - Support the US openly to attack IRAQ when UN veto against it.
Keep numb when there is no weapon of mass distruction found. However we already in the hit list of AL. Who put us up there. Do we reduce ourself because of trade figure till we are bar girl sitting on American sailor lap when their warship dock in Spore?

Sport - Will bring Singapore into world cup?? You see for yourself.

Local - Why not you wake up at 0745am and stand at JE MRT station and see for yourself how good is our transport system.

The list go on ........ Speech - any motivation speaker can do better. Action- diffcult.

ME- Speech - send fact on forum and discussion with friends. Vote - My all family is with me to vote for any opposition exp CSC. Will continue to do so. If the 33% get another 2 to vote for opposition. We will see real change and not wayang in our paliment. V

VOTE FOR OPPOSITION AND CONVINCE 2 OTHERS THAT YOU CAN INFLUENCE TO DO IT.

LHL & the meaning of life (in Sg...)

miosux

Alfrescian

pweesng

Alfrescian

miosux

Alfrescian

Frankiestine

Alfrescian

myfoot123

Alfrescian (Inf)

fanta

Alfrescian

wizard

Alfrescian

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